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Persistent Presence, Armed Overwatch - Finished


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My entry, the most modern subject in my stash, a MQ-9 Predator. Going OOB with the Texas ANG example because as prints show there are a lot of web images of this one, including with live munitions. Hoping that with no pit I can finish this during this GB and a F-4 in Classic Japan GB at roughly the same time.

 

Chris

 

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Edited by Chrisj2003
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Unusually I started on the first day of a GB.

  1. Main wheel wells glued into underside.
  2. Nose weight added; Kinetic instructions just says "g"; so I checked on Scalemates and Italeri say 20g for a re-box of this, so I weighed out 20g of "liquid steel" and superglued it to top and bottom and then dry fitted and couldn't get top and bottom together so I painted one side and prised the offending steel out. Still got nearly half the liquid steel unused but it feels like a good nose weight; just go with what I've got?
  3. 2x GBU12 assembled; 4 parts each that's more assembly than on the airframe so far. 😀 (and the wings are solid one part each side.)
  4. GBU12 and Hellfire painted with Tamiya acrylics; active Paveways seem to have some variation in colour; I've seen some where the bomb body is light grey, others where the clever bit is multi-coloured, but I have gone for olive green bombs with light grey fins etc. They need varnishing then decals. 

The Texas ANG example is a lot more colourful than the NY ANG, RAF, AAE, AMI, RNAF, EdlA and RAAF examples included in the decal sheet (there is every UK serial included), and it is armed; some of the other air arms I think aren't arming them.

 

Chris

 

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What a different span to length ratio this is (F-5E from 2 years ago for comparison). Wings and fuselage assembled; large sprue gates, so some trimming to do. No more weight added, but there is a piece on the very front to add, so if balance is wrong I can get more poured in.

 

Chris

 

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Rear all assembled and the distinctive look of these drones is there. A bit of filler needed, particularly around the nacelle. Not surprisingly there are a fair few probes and antennae on this, I think most can be left until after painting, but once the tail planes have set I'll get the front probe on because its moulded integral to a large plate which needs fairing in.

 

And I have not broken it yet but there is only one anti static wick on one wing.

 

Chris

 

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Plate with nose probe on faired in, and first coat of light compass ghost gray (Hu127) on. Undercarriage progressing also. Enough nose weight in that it is comfortably not a tail sitter.

 

Chris

 

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Carrying on with this now very topical subject.

 

That's 2 coats of gray top, bottom, and sensor pod(?), and prop and spinner, the chrome suggested by others is out of stock so just normal enamel silver. U/c bays, formation lights, etc next.

 

Chris

 

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This machine certainly found its way into the news headlines yesterday. Hopefully the prop is alright in your kit Chris.

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Not bent this one's prop.... yet.

 

That's u/c bays, formation lights and some touch up done; once dry will gloss coat. So did some of the decals on the bombs and missiles.

 

Chris

 

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Still varnishing main body. And making slow progress with decaling Hellfires; really tiny bits of yellow stripe, but I couldn't mask things this tiny, each Hellfire is ~22mm long.

 

Chris

 

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@Col. a lot of small white and red circles on the top. Presume some are fuel covers and the others are covers to aerials.  And still ongoing yellow stripes on the hellfires. 😁

 

Chris

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Away for the weekend. Back to do the red and (less obvious) white circles and national insignia decals. Will need some Micro Sol to settle down over the moulded bumps.

 

Chris

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Made very little progress last weekend when the family were over en-masse, and then struck low with Covid; wasn't too bad as last jab was late last year; something to be said for being older, the NHS keep looking after us.

 

But as top photo shows even though I use separate brushes for varnishing  I got some blue in the varnish, fortunately top of the fin with no decals. So I varnished the other side, with decals, for protection, sanded down, repainted and just re-varnished as bottom picture; so that's recovered. In meantime on assembling stores on pylons and varnishing them.

 

Chris

 

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Glad you weren't hit too badly with the COVID and also able to save that blue tint from becoming a disaster :) 

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